ONE THING AT A TIME, AND LEAVE THE REST TO JESUS

We have all encountered this breed of people before. No matter what life throws at them, they always have a smile on their face. No matter how bad things get, they are always upbeat, the sun is always shining and the birds, always singing; The Optimist. They get on our nerves because the reality is that, life is never that rosy, even for them. No matter what station you are in life, you will always have trouble. But you know what? That is exactly how Jesus wants us to be, that is why He said,

“Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” Matthew 6:31-33

Notice how it says seek first two things? First, the kingdom of God, that’s easy. Go home to our Father, walk before Him so that He can bless you. Then, seek His righteousness. For that, the message, Cast Your Care On Jesus, has revealed to us that because,

“For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” 2 Corinthians 5:21

The righteousness of which we are told to seek is not a thing, or a state of being. It is a person. It is Jesus. And when we cleave to Jesus, Isaiah tells us,

“In righteousness you shall be established;You shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear;And from terror, for it shall not come near you.Indeed they shall surely assemble, but not because of Me.Whoever assembles against you shall fall for your sake.” Isaiah 54:14-15

“No weapon formed against you shall prosper,And every tongue which rises against you in judgmentYou shall condemn.This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,And their righteousness is from Me,”Says the Lord.” Isaiah 54:17

So no wonder we can be optimistic in the face of trouble because our Father has promised His protection and His provision. And what do we need to do? How shall we seek Jesus? This is what Jesus tells us we need to do.

“Then they said to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?”Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.” John 6:28-29

But the proof is in the pudding right? So let us take a look at the example of Abraham.

“Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.”And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.” Genesis 15:5-6

There you go. He believed and He was considered righteous. It is that simple. In fact, when you believe, the rest of your life will fall into place because just as David said,

Your paths shall be Jesus’ path. And we know that if we walk along the same path as the Son of God, nothing can ever go wrong; what more now that He is leading us. But you want concrete examples of deliverance? Sure. The Bible is full of examples. But here are two.

There was a young man named Daniel, who was a good man, walked with God, stayed in His presence, and because of that, had the favor of The Lord wherever he went. Naturally, he excelled in his work; then this happened.

“It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom one hundred and twenty satraps, to be over the whole kingdom; and over these, three governors, of whom Daniel was one, that the satraps might give account to them, so that the king would suffer no loss. Then this Daniel distinguished himself above the governors and satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king gave thought to setting him over the whole realm. So the governors and satraps sought to find some charge against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find no charge or fault, because he was faithful; nor was there any error or fault found in him.” Daniel 6:1-4

We have all been there, haven’t we? We, the blessed children of our Father, because we are favored by our Father, bring blessings to the organizations we are emplaced in and because of that, those around us feel threatened, feel jealous and plot to get us. The same thing happened for Daniel and he was thrown into the lion’s den because of some clever wheeling and dealing by the others. But though his deliverance is nothing short of miraculous, his confidence is even more amazing.

“Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went home. And in his upper room, with his windows open toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days.” Daniel 6:10

If you read Daniel 6, that is all he did. No complaints, no fear, absolute calmness. Nothing more he did that he would not have ordinarily done; such confidence. And why was he able to be like this? The king unknowingly mouthed the reason for us.

“So the king gave the command, and they brought Daniel and cast him into the den of lions. But the king spoke, saying to Daniel, “Your God, whom you serve continually, He will deliver you.”” Daniel 6:16

Just as He delivered Daniel from the lions, so too will He deliver you from your lions. Trust Him and carry on doing that which you have been doing. See to the things you need to and He will take care of the rest.

Now, there was another time…

“One day, on our way to the place of prayer, a slave girl ran into us. She was a psychic and, with her fortunetelling, made a lot of money for the people who owned her. She started following Paul around, calling everyone’s attention to us by yelling out, “These men are working for the Most High God. They’re laying out the road of salvation for you!” She did this for a number of days until Paul, finally fed up with her, turned and commanded the spirit that possessed her, “Out! In the name of Jesus Christ, get out of her!” And it was gone, just like that.When her owners saw that their lucrative little business was suddenly bankrupt, they went after Paul and Silas, roughed them up and dragged them into the market square. Then the police arrested them and pulled them into a court with the accusation, “These men are disturbing the peace—dangerous Jewish agitators subverting our Roman law and order.” By this time the crowd had turned into a restless mob out for blood.The judges went along with the mob, had Paul and Silas’s clothes ripped off and ordered a public beating. After beating them black-and-blue, they threw them into jail, telling the jailkeeper to put them under heavy guard so there would be no chance of escape. He did just that—threw them into the maximum security cell in the jail and clamped leg irons on them.” Acts 16:16-24 [MSG]

Now, usually, if this kind of thing happens to us, we would get pretty upset with God. Here we were, minding our own business, and we even cast out a demon. Yet, just because someone lost their source of illegal, immoral income, we get thrown into jail. Where is the justice? But see what Paul and Silas did.

“Along about midnight, Paul and Silas were at prayer and singing a robust hymn to God. The other prisoners couldn’t believe their ears. Then, without warning, a huge earthquake! The jailhouse tottered, every door flew open, all the prisoners were loose.” Acts 16:25-26 [MSG]

They were praising our Father in the face of adversity. Were they mad? The other prisoners certainly thought so. But in truth, they were not. What they were, were confident in our Father’s promises of deliverance. And our Father did not disappoint. In fact, so strong was their faith that even when the jail doors were flung open, they did not run; nor did they leave when they were granted pardon. Instead, the obnoxious side of Paul came out.

“At daybreak, the court judges sent officers with the instructions, “Release these men.” The jailer gave Paul the message, “The judges sent word that you’re free to go on your way. Congratulations! Go in peace!”But Paul wouldn’t budge. He told the officers, “They beat us up in public and threw us in jail, Roman citizens in good standing! And now they want to get us out of the way on the sly without anyone knowing? Nothing doing! If they want us out of here, let them come themselves and lead us out in broad daylight.” Acts 16:35-37 [MSG]

Annoying, wasn’t he? But this was because Paul had so much faith in the deliverance of our Father, not only did he never doubt in Him, Paul even did this.

“Startled from sleep, the jailer saw all the doors swinging loose on their hinges. Assuming that all the prisoners had escaped, he pulled out his sword and was about to do himself in, figuring he was as good as dead anyway, when Paul stopped him: “Don’t do that! We’re all still here! Nobody’s run away!”The jailer got a torch and ran inside. Badly shaken, he collapsed in front of Paul and Silas. He led them out of the jail and asked, “Sirs, what do I have to do to be saved, to really live?” They said, “Put your entire trust in the Master Jesus. Then you’ll live as you were meant to live—and everyone in your house included!”They went on to spell out in detail the story of the Master—the entire family got in on this part. They never did get to bed that night. The jailer made them feel at home, dressed their wounds, and then—he couldn’t wait till morning!—was baptized, he and everyone in his family. There in his home, he had food set out for a festive meal. It was a night to remember: He and his entire family had put their trust in God; everyone in the house was in on the celebration.” Acts 16:27-34 [MSG]

Not only did Paul not curse his jailers, he brought them to the saving grace of Jesus.

So beloved, our Father has promised.

“In righteousness you shall be established;You shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear;And from terror, for it shall not come near you.Indeed they shall surely assemble, but not because of Me.Whoever assembles against you shall fall for your sake.” Isaiah 54:14-15

“No weapon formed against you shall prosper,And every tongue which rises against you in judgmentYou shall condemn.This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,And their righteousness is from Me,”Says the Lord.” Isaiah 54:17

Set your heart and mind on that promise and focus on your daily tasks one by one because you can have the confidence knowing that you can leave all the rest to Jesus.